Senator Win Gatchalian criticized online shopping platforms like Shopee, Lazada, Tiktok Shop, Facebook Market, and Instagram for allowing the sale of illicit tobacco and vapor products, making it easier for young people to access these regulated items.
“The online platforms should do a much better job in terms of filtering these illicit products. You have become the gateway to an increase in smoking prevalence,” Gatchalian told representatives from Shopee and Lazada during a Senate Committee on Ways and Means hearing on the rising incidence of illicit trade of excisable goods, especially tobacco and vapor products.
He stressed that platforms are responsible for ensuring these products don’t reach young people.
The senator pointed out that the availability of such products online could be driving the rise in smoking, particularly among adolescents.
Gatchalian cited an Australian study showing smoking initiation was nearly five times higher among those who vaped. In the Philippines, the Department of Science and Technology’s Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) reported that new smokers increased to 9.53 million in 2023, up from 2021, with 1.13 million being adolescents aged 10 to 19.
“The platforms know all the products being posted and sold on their sites. If these platforms allow these transactions, then they’re enabling this harmful practice,” according to him.
He also pointed out that both the Sin Tax Reform law and the Internet Transaction Act regulate the sale of such products online. “These are highly regulated products, and we enacted the ITA precisely to prevent this from happening.”IMT
